There were two kinds of Substitution Technique in the Naruto world.
One was the standard E-rank Substitution.
In essence, it was a visual feint—something like a blend of genjutsu and Body Flicker. The upside was that it was easy to learn. The downside was that the movement distance was short, the startup was long, and while it worked great against "trash mobs," it was basically useless in mid- to high-level fights.
The other kind was the personal, self-developed Substitution some high-level shinobi created by adjusting it to their own circumstances. Classic examples were Orochimaru Style: Substitution Jutsu and Itachi's Crow Substitution. When paired with strong combat fundamentals, they could produce true "no-damage evasion" effects.
And now—
With the trait granted by the galgame system, Mikami Yuu could also cast Substitution Technique with reliable instant activation.
The range was a bit short, sure, but aside from that, the trait was practically flawless! It was basically a range-limited version of "Amenotejikara"!
And this was only the reward for 25 affection—the "Friendly" stage.
If 25 was already like this…
Then wouldn't 100 affection be absolutely insane?
"This little galgame system… is actually pretty damn good."
If it had a drawback, it was that [Practice] couldn't be AFK auto-grinded—you really had to practice bit by bit yourself. And since Mikami Yuu's chakra reserves were far smaller than Obito's, the Great Fireball Jutsu he could produce right now was only basketball-sized, with basically no real combat value.
But looking at it the other way—Sasuke, the reincarnation of Indra, was only at about this level when he first learned Great Fireball too.
And as long as Mikami Yuu kept practicing, no matter how the results looked, he could still farm affection for Great Fireball. Once he unlocked the stage rewards for Great Fireball, things would be different.
—If the Three Basic Jutsu rewards were already this good, Great Fireball's rewards couldn't possibly be bad, right?
That's the confidence galgame grinding gives you!
Right now—
Mikami Yuu took a deep breath, tightened his core, and recovered from a hanging inverted position. Then he bounced in place a couple times, feeling unbelievably light—like his head was about to bump the six- or seven-meter-tall tree trunk above him.
He dropped into a stance and threw punches in place. Whooshing wind sounds kept snapping through the air—his arms and waist felt noticeably stronger, and his punches were steadier and heavier.
Without a sparring partner, Mikami Yuu didn't know whether those +3 Constitution points had improved his taijutsu too. But one thing was certain: right now, he could easily beat the version of himself from a few weeks ago.
"It's about time."
"Tomorrow's the placement assessment. I need to get there early… Whether I keep being a ninja or go become a noodle-pulling craftsman—this is the moment of truth!"
…
Early the next morning.
"Good morning, Yuu-kun!"
Mikami Yuu finished breakfast with his mom, stepped outside, and saw Nohara Rin coming out of her house too, backpack on her back.
She smiled and waved hello, then kept glancing at the top of Mikami Yuu's head, her gaze turning a little strange.
"What is it, Rin? Is there something on my head?"
Mikami Yuu touched his white hair.
"N-no… I just suddenly feel like you've gotten taller lately, Yuu-kun? Not long ago you were only a tiny bit taller than me, but now you're almost half a head taller."
Walking beside him, Rin raised her small hand from her own head and gestured toward his height as she spoke.
Mikami Yuu glanced over. His eyes swept from the top of Rin's head down, briefly passing her fair neck, and then he smiled casually. "Maybe I've just been eating better lately, so I grew a little… Speaking of which, I should thank you for that bucket of fish."
"It's not that dramatic. If eating a few fish could make you taller, everyone in Konoha would be out fishing in the Naka River."
Rin laughed.
In reality, Mikami Yuu's height change was probably mostly due to the +3 Constitution from the system. The boost was comprehensive—it didn't just strengthen his punches and kicks, it also increased his height slightly, to the point where it showed.
But this age was when kids naturally grew anyway, so the change didn't feel too out of place.
After walking a little farther, Rin spoke again. "Oh right, Yuu-kun—about learning medical ninjutsu. Ooki-sensei already got back to me."
"He said Konoha Hospital has a training class for newly recruited medical staff. He already put in a word for me. Starting next week, I can go sit in and audit the lessons. Yuu-kun, do you want to come too? If it's the two of us, we can talk things over whenever we run into problems."
"When is it?"
"Weekend mornings. Sometimes weekday evenings too. The instructors are medical ninja from the village—mostly chūnin. But I heard you can occasionally meet jōnin… and even Tsunade-sama has shown up before."
"Tsunade…"
Mikami Yuu involuntarily pictured a pair of enormous—
No choice. That particular "feature" of Tsunade was just too iconic.
But… at this point in time, Tsunade should've already left Konoha, right? And she had hemophobia—what would she even be teaching at the hospital? Wouldn't it trigger her?
While thinking that, Mikami Yuu said aloud, "Sure. When the time comes, don't forget to call me."
As they talked, the two of them arrived at the Ninja Academy.
On the way to the classroom, students greeted them from time to time.
Among them was a guy with Byakugan eyes—someone who looked a bit high-and-mighty. He "casually" sidled closer and made some small talk.
His name was Hyūga Kamon, a child of the Hyūga clan.
Rin was gentle, pretty, and often helped others at school, so she was well-liked. Besides Obito, there were other early-maturing kids who secretly liked her too—like this Hyūga Kamon.
But the pride that came with being born into a major clan made him disdain acting like a simp the way Obito did. Instead, he tried to get Rin's attention by deliberately playing it cool, even putting others down. He constantly bragged about his noble background and outstanding talent, which left Rin helpless—but also made it hard for her to say anything directly.
As for Mikami Yuu…
In most boys' eyes, his "role" was a potential romantic rival.
No way around it—having a good character model just worked like that.
Back when Kakashi was still around, the Academy had someone with equally top-tier looks and absurd talent, and he overshadowed everyone. But now Kakashi wasn't here, and Mikami Yuu had become the "prettiest guy in class." Even if his talent was weaker, plenty of looks-fans still supported him.
Mikami Yuu didn't really care about that.
They were all noisy little kids. Compared to them, he preferred someone a bit older.
Of course, if there were a cute little rich girl who stepped up and told him he didn't need to work hard anymore… well, he wasn't saying he couldn't consider it.